Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fluid supply device for supplying fluid from a fluid reservoir to a supply passage.
Description of the Related Art
As an example of the fluid supply device for supplying fluid from a fluid reservoir to a fluid passage, a fuel supply device for supplying fuel to an engine of an automobile, an aircraft or the like is a known, wherein a pump driven by the engine accessory gearbox forces fuel from a fuel tank into the engine. The flow rate of fuel delivered by the pump therefore depends on the rotational speed of the engine, and thus, the fuel supply device of this type comprises a regulation valve, a bypass valve and the like to control the flow rate of fuel supplied to the engine (see JP 2008-530442 A).
The fuel supply device with a pump driven by the engine accessory gearbox can continue supplying fuel to the engine as long as the engine is rotating, which is advantageous in terms of reliability. The fuel supply device of this type, however, has a disadvantage that it is large in size because of a regulation valve, a bypass valve and the like required to control the flow rate of fuel supplied to the engine.
In recent years, to deal with this problem, there have been proposed fuel supply devices for aircraft with a pump driven by an electric motor, in place of the engine accessory gearbox as in the conventional devices. The fuel supply device of this type is able to control the flow rate of fuel by regulating the rotational speed of the electric motor, and thus, does not require a regulation valve, a bypass valve or the like, which leads to advantages such as a reduced size and cost. The fuel supply device with a pump driven by an electric motor has, however, a problem in terms of reliability, since failure of the electric motor, malfunction in the electrical system or the like may lead to interruption of fuel supply to the engine.
As a means to solve this problem, a redundant-configuration multiphase motor having, for example two sets of phase windings is known (see JP 2002-369586 A). With the fuel supply device with a pump driven by an electric motor of this type, at least the possibility that the failure of the electric motor leads to interruption of fuel supply to the engine is reduced.
However, even with the fuel supply device with a pump driven by a redundant-configuration multiphase motor, failure of the pump may lead to interruption of fuel supply to the engine. This is the same with the fuel supply device with a pump driven by the engine accessory gearbox.